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BREAD AND ROSES 


FROM 

STONES 



A HANDBOOK 

OF 

Sensible Soil Culture 

By JACK GAERITY 


"Oar earth is still virgin, the 
finest days are yet to come; we 
simply lack the knowledge of 
how to make the great treasures 
of the globe serviceable to as." 

—Julius Hensel, 


PUBLISHED FOR THE AUTHOR 
BY S. F. SHOREY 
815 THIRD AVE. SEATTLE, WN. 






COPYRIGHTED 1924 
BY 

JACK GAERITY 


©CU777972 

APR-7 1924 ■' 


'lift I 


TABLE OF CONTENTS 


Foreword 

Chap. 

I Hcnsel’s Theory_ 7 

II Making Virgin Soil_ 13 

III How Plants Grow_20 

IV What Plants Do to Soil_23 

V What Is a Complete Fertilizer?_32 

VI The False Nitrogen Theory_37 

VII The Use of Manure_ 47 

VIII Natural Rock Fertilizer-52 

IX Vegetable Gardening- 62 

X Raising Fruit- 67 

XI The Culture of Flowers- 75 

XII Chemistry of Plant Growth- 81 

Appendix: Table of Ash Composition. 



















FOREWORD 


The purpose of this little book is to show how 
our soil may be properly and cheaply fertilized, and 
how better foodstuffs may be obtained from the 
earth. 

There is some food for thought, I trust, not 
only for farmers, gardeners and fruit raisers, but 
also for physicians and students of health problems, 
in its pages. 

Now that it is finished and a debt of gratitude 
paid to the memory of Julius Hensel, one of the 
nob’est spirits of the last century, a word may be 
in order with regard to how it came to be written. 

I had read Hensel’s brochure on the subject in 
German and had made up my mind to translate 
it. The translation, in fact, was nearly completed 
when we met Mr. and Mrs. William E. Gordon, 
who informed us that the work had already been 
translated into English, and Mrs. Gordon borrow¬ 
ed a copy treasured by the publisher of this work, 
Mr. S. F. Shorey, Seattle bookman and philosopher. 


FOREWORD 


A careful reading of it, however, disclosed that it 
was an entirely different work. 

Mr. Shorey’s copy was translated and published 
by Adolph Tafel in 1893, while the brochure I 
was translating had been published in Germany in 
1898. It was, of course, quite impossible to com¬ 
bine the two works from Hensers pen, so the 
decision was reached to write a new book in order 
to bring the evidence in support of his theory up 
to date. That is how this little book came into 
existence. 

No pains have been spared in the effort to 
present the theory clearly, but whether I have suc¬ 
ceeded, and if so how far, each reader must judge 
for himself. 

I sincerely trust the little work may prove of 
service to many readers, and should be overjoyed 
if it does. 


CHAPTER I 
Hensel’s Theory 

I NSTEAD of using manure or a commercial 
fertilizer composed of three or four readily sol¬ 
uble mineral substances to keep our soil fruitful, 
Julius Hensel argues that we should use a properly 
compounded mixture of finely ground rocks, which 
he called “stone meal.” It is nearly forty years 
since he first offered this startling theory to the 
world; first at Christiania, Norway, in 1885, and 
later at Leipzig, Germany. 

The professors of scientific agriculture, however, 
headed by Prof. Wagner of Darmstadt, greeted the 
new theory with sneers and ridicule, and dismissed 
its author as unworthy of their consideration. In¬ 
deed Prof. Wagner went so far as to declare that 
“nothing could be grown on such stuff.” 

The reception of Hensel’s views by the scientists 
of his day was neither new nor unusual. Robert 
Fulton received a like reception when he proposed 
to run a boat up the Hudson river by steam power. 


BREAD AND ROSES FROM STONES 


a large scale by any institution, nor even on a small 
scale by any number of persons. It must have 
escaped the attention of our agricultural teachers 
and our agricultural journals, or e’se they dismissed 
it, on the strength of t h e opposition in Germany, 
as a crank idea. 

The teachers and journals of agriculture can no 
longer ignore Hensel’s theory, for Dr. Wm. 
Crocker, an American scientist of high rank, writ¬ 
ing in “The Manufacturers Record,” under date of 
Nov. 27, 1919, flatly asserts that “a balanced 
ration of natural rock fertilizers is possible . . . .” 
Now, it logically follows, if a mixture of finely 
ground rocks is capable of feeding plants, it will 
not only aid in maintaining the fertility of our soil, 
but will help to lower the cost of producing food. 

The use of a properly made stone dust fertilizer, 
moreover, will enable us to avoid paying a high 
price for nitrogen in commercial fertilizers. So 
far as nitrogen is concerned as a fertilizer, A. B. 
Ross shows that it “does not pay for its board and 
lodging.” We farmers are mulcted o u t of huge 
sums of money to pay for nitrogen which our crops 
can obtain for nothing. Under proper conditions 
10 


HENSEL’S THEORY 

all plants, not merely the legumes, will obtain 
from soil and air all the nitrogen they need. In 
chapter VI will be found Hensel’s refutation of the 
nitrogen theory, a crushing refutation of a dogma 
still taught in our agricultural schools. 

There is not the shadow of a doubt that a proper 
mixture of stone dust is effective as a soil builder, 
as a fertilizer. It could be produced cheaper than 
any other too. It is not only more available and 
cheaper, but is infinitely superior, as we shall prove, 
to all other fertilizers. Indeed commercial fertil¬ 
izers, as a matter of fact, contain but a few plant 
foods, while a correctly put together mixture of 
stone dust contains all the mineral plant foods 
needed for healthy plant growth. It is not to be 
denied, of course, that stone will act more slowly 
than commercial fertilizers, but so far from being 
a fault that is one of its virtues. 

The best test, when all is said and done, is the 
application of stone dust to the soil. In this con¬ 
nection, hundreds of British and German users 
might be quoted in p r a i s e of it. One quotation 
from each source, however, must suffice. 

B. Wettengel, a German farmer, writing in the 

11 


BREAD AND ROSES FROM STONES 
“Wiesbadener General Anzeiger” of July 1, 1893, 
says: 

“I have been using stone dust fertilizer in my 
garden and fields for five years. The results have 
always been satisfactory in every respect, for the 
soil becomes better every year by using this fertil¬ 
izer. Especially this year during the extraordinary 
drought, the excellent effects of stone dust fully 
manifested themselves. The flowers as well as the 
different vegetables developed so magnificently 
that every person who passed my garden stopped 
and admired the great growth, especially of the 
Kohlrabi.” 

Now for the English comment. J. A. Minchin, 
Esq., of Henfield, Sussex, states: ”1 have, even 
this dry Summer (1919), grown most splendid 
salads with the aid of Fluora. My winter green 
stuff, Brussels sprouts, etc., are also looking re¬ 
markably well and strong.” 

In the light of such results, and in view of the 
fact that Hensel’s theory, as we shall see presently, 
is simply an adaptation of Nature’s own method of 
producing fertile soil, it is very strange that the 
leaders of scientific agriculture should continue to 
ignore this theory. 


12 


CHAPTER II 


Making Virgin Soils 


^JHEREVER virgin soil is found, if it has 
v\/ an ample supply of water, it bears a luxur- 
riant growth of vegetation. This is equally true of 
lands lying at the foot of giant mountains, of lands 
at the base of rocky hills, of river valleys, and plains, 
and prairies. The basis of t h e fertility of virgin 
soil is not far to seek. A careful examination of 
such soils discloses that they contain an abundance 
of those minerals which normally take part in 
plant growth. 


Where did these mineral plant foods come 
from? How do they happen to be present in vir¬ 
gin soil in such abundant quantities? Originally 
these mineral stuffs were locked up in solid rocks. 
They are present in virgin soils to a large extent 
because such soils are made u p of decayed rocks 
and humus. The splitting up or pulverization of 
primitive rocks is due to a process called weather¬ 
ing. 


13 


BREAD AND ROSES FROM STONES 


Now the process, whereby rocks are reduced to 
powder or dust, is composed of the following 
factors: 

Changes in the temperature of the atmosphere 
and earth as the seasons revolve, erosion of the 
rocks by water laden with carbonic acid, the ex¬ 
pansion of water when freezing into ice, and the 
disintegrating influence of organic life. There is 
no need for us to consider the process in detail; a 
cursory consideration of some phases of its opera¬ 
tion will serve our purpose admirably. 

Let us consider the influence of changes in tem¬ 
perature on the exposed surfaces of rocks. In the 
first place rocks are very sensitive to extreme 
changes in temperature from season to season, and 
are also affected by variations in temperature 
between day and night. Naturally the changes due 
to the seasons affect rocks most powerfully, their 
sphere of influence extending into rocks from 60 
to 100 feet. The influence of daily variations of 
temperature, however, does not extend more than 
3 to 10 feet. These changes contract or expand 
the exposed surfaces of rocks more or less, their 
action depending on the rapidity with which the 
14 


MAKING VIRGIN SOILS 


change in temperature takes place. The sudden 
contraction and expansion cracks the outer surface 
of rocks , and thus enables water to enter these 
cracks and act upon more of the rock. 

But the most powerful influence of all, the most 
destructive t o rocky masses, however, comes into 
play as water freezes into ice, for freezing water 
steadily expands until it has become solid ice. The 
ice, as a matter of fact, formed by a given quantity 
of water will fill one tenth more space than the 
water occupied. Thus, ten cubic inches of water 
will produce eleven cubic inches of ice. “In the 
freezing of water, then,” as Prof. Stockbridge says, 
“lies the source of irresistible power, the partial 
confinement of which in the pores and crevices of 
rocks results in tearing, rending and crushing 
them.” The question arises, can we successfully 
imitate this weathering process of Nature? This 
question will be considered in detail presently. 

It is unnecessary to argue in support of the 
proposition that virgin soil, the most fertile, was 
originally formed by the breaking up of primitive 
rocks. For, in fact, it is a self-evident proposition. 
It is likewise indisputable that Hensel’s theory 

15 


BREAD AND ROSES FROM STONES 


rests upon that fact. 

Indeed the weathering of primitive rocks affords 
us a continuous supply of mineral plant foods if 
our land is at the foot of giant mountains, rocky 
hi 1 Is, or i n river valleys, o r creek bottoms. The 
silic’ous clay which makes up a large part of rocks, 
however, cannot serve as a plant food to any appre¬ 
ciable extent, but it can perform two useful 
purposes: 1) it can help to retain in the soil water 
required for plant growth; and 2) it can aid in 
preventing the caustic alkalies in rocks, particulaily 
the potash and soda, from dissolving too rapidly. 
The latter is especially necessary, for an excess of 
free alkali would burn growing plants badly, per¬ 
haps completely destroy them. 

The fact is, but a few of the numerous mineral 
stuffs found in rocks are capable of serving as 
plant food. These mineral plant foods, however, 
are useful to plants only when soluble in soil water 
or root sap. In the natural course of events, 
though, mineral plant foods in rocks become 
available as plant food. 

For centuries certain regions of the earth have 
been noted on account of their great fertility. The 
16 


MAKING VIRGIN SOILS 


most noted, in all probability, is the valley of the 
Nile in Egypt. The river Nile overflows its banks 
every year, floods vast reaches of land and deposits 
thereon much silt, which is simply a mixture of 
fine mineral matter and decayed vegetable stuffs. 
This silt is rich plant food. The marvellous fer¬ 
tility of t h e Nile valley, therefore, is manifestly 
due to the annual floods. 

“This is also true,” Hensel remarks, of Argen¬ 
tina which is blessed, because of silt from the Cor- 
dilera mountains, with an over-abundant production 
of grain; and not less true of mountainous 
Roumania, and of Carpathian engirdled Hungary, 
to content myself with these few examples. The 
mountains without a doubt, are our most econom¬ 
ical source of raw materials for the growth of food¬ 
stuffs.” 

The solid basis of plant bodies, their skeletons, so 
to speak, consists of mineral substances, originally 
part of the rocks, which may properly be called 
physiological minerals. The number of these in 
plant tissues varies, as a general rule, between ten 
and fourteen. It is these minerals that endow plants 
with coherence, and durability, and give them the 

17 


BREAD AND ROSES FROM STONES 


power to resist fungous diseases and pests. 

“In the giants of t h e forest growing in rocky 
soil,” according to Hensel, “we can study the great 
productive power of primitive rocks. But the 
power which res'des in tree r oots to soften stones 
and extract from them their basic, sulphatic and 
phosphatic components, a n d to extend their firm 
building material many feet into the soil, so that 
tension and firmness are given to their bark, their 
trunk, limbs, branches and leaf ribs, is not possess¬ 
ed by grain roots which enter the soil only a few 
inches. The forest tree may grow for a thousand 
years, but the grain stalk completes its growth in a 
few months. Wherefrom it follows that vegetable 
roots require a porous soil into which rain water, 
nitrogen and carbonic acid can enter.” This ability 
of trees to dissolve and absorb mineral plant foods 
was taken advantage of by men in ancient times 
more or less, and also by the pioneer settlers in 
America. 

“In very primitive times,” Hoare Collins states, 
“the forest dwellers burnt down a small portion of 
forest, sowed grain on the ashes, and, after exhaust¬ 
ing their little field in the course of ten years, 
18 


MAKING VIRGIN SOILS 

moved to another part of the forest and repeated 
the process. The plot of ground which they had 
left, as being no longer valuable to them, was quite 
well suited for forest reproduction, and soon grew 
trees. . . 

Once again we must quote Hensel: “The expe¬ 
rience,” he says, “of the first agricultural settlers 
in America, who burned down forests in order to 
obtain tillable land, and from the ash strewn soil 
obtained colossal crops, would afford an entirely 
valid proof that the same earthy elements which 
aided in the growth of forest trees, and which were 
stored up in their wood and bark, are also of 
service to the bread cereals, and not less to the 
earthy and starchy potato.” 

In order to clearly understand the part these 
minerals play in the growth of trees, and of vege¬ 
tables, and fruits, and flowers, we must learn how 
they unite with water and atmospheric gases, 
under the influence of sunlight and warmth, to 
form plant tissues. 


19 


CHAPTER III 
How Plants Grow 


■ ^OR vigorous growth all varieties of land 

■ v plants require practically the same conditions, 
but the seed of each variety in addition to containing 
a store of food forms a mould or pattern, which 
determines not only the shape of the seedling but 
also its food requirements. 

The process of growth begins, as everyone 
knows, in the Spring. The seed which has lain 
dormant through the Winter, under the influence 
of the warm rays from the sun begins to absorb 
water, swells up and then sprouts, sending rootlets 
down into the soil and thrusting a stalk up into 
the air. As the days lengthen and become warmer, 
its roots are thrust ever deeper into the earth, 
leaves unfold on the stalk, and sap rises steadily 
from the roots to leaves, where it is evaporated. 

Since plant growth consists essentially of assem¬ 
bling water, atmospheric gases, and soil minerals, 
and combining them together into different 

20 


HOW PLANTS GROW 


compounds for the creation of plant tissues, when 
the supply of mineral plant foods in the seed has 
been used up, the growing plant must draw upon 
the soil for a fresh supply. 

If we set down in their order the factors or con¬ 
ditions required for the growth of vigorous plants, 
our list will contain the following items: 

1- A well crumbled soil. 

2- An abundance of alkaline matter—lime, pot¬ 
ash, soda, magnesia, iron and manganese. 

3- An ample supply of carbonic acid, i n the 
form of limestone or chalk. 

4- A sufficiency of phosphoric acid, hydrochloric 
acid and sulphuric acid combined with some 
of the alkaline substances already named, 
plus some silica. 

5- Unimpeded circulation of a i r through the 
soil. 

6- Plenty of water, from rain or irrigation. 

7- A good growing season with lots of sunshine. 

Insofar as the first five of these are concerned, 

we are in a position to control them at all times, by 
th addition of a suitable fertilizer. Usually we are 
also able to supply the sixth condition requisite to 
21 


BREAD AND ROSES FROM STONES 


plant growth, by irrigation where the rainfall is 
insufficient. But the length of the growing season 
and the amount of sunshine are beyond our control. 
These are the physical conditions essential to plant 
growth, and upon their free inter-play depends 
both the quantity and the quality of the fruits of 
any plot of ground. 

Thus far we have, of cpurse, merely considered 
plant growth from a superficial point of view. We 
desire, however, to find out exactly how Nature 
combines liquid, gaseous and mineral stuffs so as 
to form plant tissues, to create vegetables, fruits 
and flowers, Our goal is to find out how Nature 
transforms so-called dead matter into living plants. 
Chemistry must be our guide. Anyone able to add, 
multiply and divide simple figures can grasp 
enough chemistry, as you will see, to obtain a fair 
conception of the process of plant growth. 


22 


CHAPTER IV 
What Plants do to Soil 


O UR food stuffs are all obtained from the earth: 

directly in the shape of grains, vegetables, and 
fruit: indirectly i n the form of eggs, milk, and 
meat. All foods consist of water and mineral stuffs 
supplied by the soil and gases obtained from the 
air. The supply of gases is unlimited, but the sup¬ 
ply of essential minerals in a given plot of ground 
is limited. 

Thus far chemists have discovered about 90 
different kinds of matter, the so-called chemical 
elements. But of these only a small fraction, never 
more than 18, so far as we are now aware, form 
part of any plant, animal or human body. 

Our daily food is the source from which our 
bodies are supposed to obtain the mineral stuffs 
they need to keep them in a healthy condition. If 
the soil in which food is grown lacks any of the 
necessary minerals, or contains too small a supply 
of one or more of them to satisfy the needs of 
23 


BREAD AND ROSES FROM STONES 


growing plants, or if food plants are so rapidly 
grown that they cannot absorb enough of certain 
minerals, those who subsist on such food stuffs will 
eventually suffer from a deficiency disease. 

Hence it is necessary, for the production of vig¬ 
orous plants, for the growth of health promoting 
foods, that the soil should contain an abundance of 
all the mineral plant foods. It is a well known 
fact that the amount of available minerals in soil 
not only influences the size of the crop, but also 
largely determines its food value. 

What are the essential chemical elements? 

Those normally a part of plant, animal and 
human tissues are: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, 
nitrogen, and lime, potash, soda, phosphorus, iron, 
sulphur, magnesia, chlorine, manganese, fluorine, 
silica, iodine, vanadium and lithium. 

While virgin soils usually contain an ample 
supply of these substances, many areas of culti¬ 
vated land are almost stripped of them—especially 
lands that have been cropped for many years. Of 
course crops may be reaped from deficient soil, and 
large ones too, for the simple reason that one 
element may partly replace another in the forma- 
24 


WHAT PLANTS DO TO SOIL 


tion of plant tissues. Thus lime may serve instead 
of part of the essential potash, and ammonia may 
largely fill the place of both lime and potash. The 
outward appearance of plants may not reveal the 
fact that lime has in part taken the place of potash 
or that ammonia has largely filled the place of lime 
and potash in their structure. The chemical com¬ 
position of such plants, however, differs very 
greatly from that of normally nourished plants, 
and their food value likewise differs from that of 
normal plants. 

Now the growth of such abnormal and defective 
plants is usually due to one of two causes, though 
sometimes it may be due to both: the soil has heen 
stripped of certain mineral plant foods by long 
years of cropping, or the use of a fertilizer espec¬ 
ially rich in nitrogen, in the form of ammonia or 
a nitrate, may hasten the growth of plants so much 
that they do not have time to absorb enough 
minerals. 

Of course the mineral skeletons of plants differ 
from one another, if not with respect to the kind 
of minerals, at least as regards the amount of the 
various minerals they contain. Thus i t becomes 

25 


BREAD AND ROSES FROM STONES 


clear why one variety of plant may thrive on a 
plot of ground wherein another fares badly. Wheat 
may do fairly well, for example, in a field wherein 
barley or oats will not thrive, for the simple reason 
that wheat requires far less sulphur of which that 
particular field has been almost completely 
denuded. 

Inasmuch as all kinds of plants, by virtue of 
their acid root sap, dissolve and absorb varying 
amounts of mineral plant foods from the land, it 
follows that every crop reaped carries away a defi¬ 
nite quantity of essential minerals. The growing 
and reaping of crops, therefore, represents a steady 
drain on the supply of mineral plant food in the 
soil. Hence, if a like amount of the same stuffs is 
not returned to the land its fertility must steadily 
diminish until it finally becomes incapable of pro¬ 
ducing wholesome crops. 

Two factors determine the rate at which mineral 
plant foods are removed from the soil, namely, the 
nature of the crop and the quantity yielded. It is 
not difficult, given a table showing the average 
normal content of plants, to determine exactly how 
much mineral plant food a given crop has removed 
26 


WHAT PLANTS DO TO SOIL 

from the soil in which it was grown. Indeed a few 
figures, a little simple arithmetic, will tell the 
whole story clearly. 

We shall confine ourselves t o consideration of 
two typical farm crops, by way of illustrating the 
pomt, namely wheat and oats. Let us estimate the 
amount of m’neral plant food each of these crops 
will remove from an acre of ground, from ten 
acres, and from a hundred acres. With the figures 
at hand, it will become clear that we should pay 
strict attention to the drain all crops make on 
cultivated land, not only insofar as potash and phos¬ 
phorus are concerned—we ignore nitrogen, and you 
will see why in a little while—but we must also 
take all the mineral plant foods into account. Once 
the full s : gnificance of this point enters the mind 
of a tiller of the soil, he will be glad to make use 
of the table at the end of this book, I am sure, to 
figure out for himself how much mineral matter 
his various crops are removing from his soil. 

Now, for the sake of a simple illustration, let us 
assume that an acre of wheat yields 20 bushels of 
grain and 2 tons of straw, and that an acre of oats 
gives us 40 bushels of grain and 2 tons of straw. 

27 


BREAD AND ROSES FROM STONES 


We have 20 bushels of wheat, each weighing 60 
pounds, containing 1 .6 per cent of its weight of 
mineral matter. Twenty multiplied by sixty gives 
us a total of 1,200 pounds of grain. Each hundred 
weight of grain contains one and six tenths of a 
pound of minerals. Therefore, 12 multiplied by 

1 .6, which totals 19 .2 pounds, tells us exactly how 
much mineral matter the grain has taken from one 
acre of soil. The wheat straw, of which there is 

2 tons or 40 hundred weights, contains 6 per cent 
of mineral stuffs. If we multiply 40 by 6, which 
totals 240 pounds, it gives us the exact amount of 
mineral plant food removed from the soil by the 
straw. Now, adding the total of the grain and 
straw minerals, 19 .2 and 240, w e have a grand 
total of 259 .2 pounds of plant food removed by 
the wheat crop from our acre of land. 

A like crop would, of course, remove ten times 
as much from ten acres. That is to say, such a 
crop of wheat would remove 2,592 pounds of min¬ 
eral plant food from a ten acre plot, which is more 
than a ton and one quarter. From a hundred acre 
field the same crop would remove 25,920 pounds, 
just a fraction less than 13 tons. 

28 


WHAT PLANTS DO TO SOIL 

We have 40 bushels of oats, each of which 
weighs 42 pounds, of which 2 .6 per cent is mineral 
stuffs. Forty multiplied by forty-two gives a 
tota- of 1,680 pounds of grain. If we multiply 
16 .8 (the number of hundred weights) by 2 .6 the 
total is 43 .6, which tells us that our oats contain 
a little more than forty-three and a half pounds of 
mineral stuffs. There is two tons, or 40 hundred 
weights, of oat straw, and 6 per cent of it is min¬ 
eral matter. Forty multiplied by six yields a total 
of 240 pounds. Now, adding together the mineral 
in the grain, 43 .6 pounds a n d in the straw 240 
pounds, we find that our crop of oats removed 
283 .6 pounds of mineral matter from the acre of 
land in which it was grown. 

Such a crop of oats, therefore, would remove 
2,836 pounds of mineral plant foods, or more than 
a ton and one half, from ten acres of land, and 
from a hundred acre field it would take 28,360 
pounds of minerals essential to wholesome plant 
growth. That is to say, the drain of a single crop 
on a hundred acre field would be a mere matter of 
more than 14 tons. In ten years time the total 
would be more than 141 tons, which would fill at 
29 


BREAD AND ROSES FROM STONES 

least four freight cars! 

Thus it becomes clear that the drain made by 
crops on the mineral plant food supply in soil is 
quite large. While potash and phosphorus are a 
large part of the mineral matter removed by crops, 
they are by no means the only mineral stuffs re¬ 
moved in measurable quantities; about a dozen 
other essential minerals are found in the ash of all 
cultivated crops. We cannot ignore these drains 
on the fertility of our soil except at our peril. 

How very little attention farmers, gardeners 
and fruit growers pay, as a general rule, t o this 
vital point. Very few of them, in fact, know any¬ 
thing about these drains on their mineral plant 
food supply. Most of them will argue that they 
are not robbing their land, because they return the 
manure to it, with occasional doses of commercial 
fertilizer. While such methods serve to bring 
forth fair crops, the quality of our food stuffs and 
fodder crops cannot fail to become poorer by their 
use. 

Since the quality, the food value, of the products 
of our fields, our gardens, and our orchards depends 
very largely on the composition of the soil in which 
30 


WHAT PLANTS DO TO SOIL 


they are grown, it is necessary that the soil in 
which the cereals, the vegetables, and the fruits of 
tree, and shrub, and vine are grown should be 
completely fertilized. The best method of doing 
this will be discussed in another chapter. 


31 


CHAPTER V 

What is a Complete Fertilizer? 

I F it be asked, what is a complete fertilizer ? 

the answer will depend, of course, on the point 
of view from which we consider the question. For 
certain mineral plant foods, as we have learned, are 
able to partly replace others in plant bodies without 
causing any visible change in the shape and appear¬ 
ance of the plants. We have often observed, too, 
that crops grown under these conditions may yield a 
large harvest. Hence, if our purpose in using 
fertilizer is simply to obtain the largest possible yield 
without regard to the quality of the crop, we might 
say that any material—be it manure or a mixture 
of potash, phosphorus and nitrogen—which is capa¬ 
ble of promoting a large yield from a given plot of 
land is a complete fertilizer. But if our purpose 
is to obtain from the soil wholesome food stuffs and 
fodder the answer will be an entirely different one. 

Our first consideration should be the quality of 
our crops, their nutritive value to man or beast. It 
32 


WHAT IS A COMPLETE FERTILIZER 


is natural we should desire to obtain from our land 
as large a yield as possible, but we should not be 
willing to sacrifice quality for quantity. Certainly 
no one in his senses would be satisfied with a large 
harvest poor in food value, because deficient in es¬ 
sential minerals, since neither man nor beast can 
thrive on such food. From this point of view we 
define a complete fertilizer as one that contains all 
of those mineral stuffs necessary for the growth of 
normal, healthy plants. 

This conception of a complete fertilizer, to say the 
very least of it, is entirely at variance with the 
vie>vs of most agricultural teachers, for their con¬ 
ception of a complete fertilizer includes only potash, 
phosphorus and nitrogen. They contend, of course, 
that the land usually contains enough of ail the 
others. The value of lime is recognized insofar as 
it serves to overcome soil acidity. Quite recently 
the value of sulphur as a fertilizer has been extolled. 

The old theory is slowly but surely being under¬ 
mined, because of its directly injurious effects on 
plant life, and because of its indirectly harmful 
results in human and animal bodies. In spite of the 
accumulation of evidence against it, however, most 

33 


BREAD AND ROSES FROM STONES 

of our agricultural teachers and journals still cling 
to it. They insist that potash, phosphorus and ni¬ 
trogen form a complete fertilizer. The vitality of 
this outworn theory is due, of course, to veneration 
for its founders, von Liebig and Boussingault, as 
authorities. 

We should be the last to belittle the magnificent 
research work of Justus von Liebig in the domain 
of agricultural chemistry. His researches, as a mat¬ 
ter of fact, constitute the first original contribution 
to agriculture in two thousand years. Chemical 
analysis revealed to him that most of the ashes of 
grain consists of potash and phosphoric acid, from 
which he drew the conclusion that the return of 
these to the soil is imperatively demanded by 
Nature. He failed, however, to take the straw into 
account. It contains very small quantities of potash 
and phosphoric acid, because these stuffs pass from 
the straw into the grain during the ripening process. 

If von Liebig had determined the amount and 
nature of the ash in straw as well as in the grain, 
he would have found that the entire plant contains 
just about as much lime and magnesia as it does 
potash and soda, and he would have found that 
34 


WHAT IS A COMPLETE FERTILIZER 

phosphorus represents about a tenth of the sum of 
the four basic substances just named. In view of 
these facts, it is wrong to conclude as the followers 
of von Liebig do that potash and phosphorus are 
more essential to plant growth than any of the other 
mineral plant foods. 

With respect to the almost universally upheld 
theory that it is necessary to supply fixed nitrogen 
to the soil, it is to be remarked that its founder, 
J. B. Boussingault, was second only to von Liebig 
as a brilliant pioneer agricultural chemist. The in¬ 
genious experiment from which he drew the conclu¬ 
sion that plants are incapable of absorbing and using 
atmospheric nitrogen struck the scientific minds of 
his day as a conclusive and indisputable demonstra¬ 
tion of fact. The scientific authorities of his day 
endorsed his conclusion, and those of our own day 
have never thought of questioning it. 

It is now conceded by all thinkers, however, that 
the legumes such as beans, peas, clover and alfalfa 
are capable of obtaining from the air all the nitrogen 
they need, and more. We find no nitrogen in the 
roots and trunks of forest trees, but their leaves con¬ 
tain varying amounts of it in the chlorophyll or 

35 


BREAD AND ROSES FROM STONES 


leaf green, and this is obtained from the air. 

There can be no reasonable doubt as to the ability 
of all plants, not merely the legumes, to obtain from 
the air and the soil the nitrogen they need for their 
growth without fixed nitrogen being supplied to the 
soil. An excess of nitrogen, as we shall prove, not 
only retards the formation of grain, of roots and 
tubers, but gives rise to sickly plants. An entire 
chapter is needed for the discussion of this phase of 
the question. 

All of the evidence when summed up will, I think, 
justify our conception of a complete fertilizer as 
one that contains all the mineral stuffs essential to 
plant growth. 


36 


CHAPTER VI 
The False Nitrogen Theory. 

O other theory in the domain of soil culture 
J * has done so much harm to the human race as 
Roussingault’s, that plants are incapable of obtain¬ 
ing any of the nitrogen they need from the air, 
four-fifths of which consists of nitrogen. For it 
has led cultivators of the soil to waste huge sums 
of money for nitrate of soda and other nitrogen 
compounds. In consequence of this the products of 
our fields and gardens too often contain an excess 
of nitrogen, which is largely responsible for those 
conditions giving rise to a host of diseases and pests 
which afflict not only our plants, but also our do¬ 
mestic animals, our poultry and ourselves. 

The facts, which stare us in the face on every 
hand, go to show that all kinds of plants are capable 
of obtaining part of the nitrogen from the air, and 
will obtain the rest from the earth if there is an 
abundance of iron and carbonate of lime in the 
soil. Most land contains more or less available iron, 
37 


BREAD AND ROSES FROM STONES 


and if we add carbonate of lime—lime stone—there 
is absolutely no reason for using expensive nitrogen 
in any form as a fertilizer. 

This assertion will be hotly denied, of course, by 
most agricultural teachers and journals, and by all 
fertilizer manufacturers. We need but open our 
eyes and use a little common sense, in order to 
clearly see that the nitrogen theory of fertilization 
is false. The green coloring matter of forest tree 
leaves, so-called chlorophyll, is a vegetable albumen 
which contains nitrogen. There is no nitrogen, 
however, in the wood of their trunks, for dry dis¬ 
tillation of such wood yields no ammonia, but 
instead we obtain wood vinegar. The nitrogen found 
in leaf green can hardly have come from the soil, 
or we should find nitrogen in considerable amounts 
in the wood of roots and trunk. 

If it be asked how tree leaves could obtain nitro¬ 
gen from the air, the reply is: under the influence 
of the sun’s rays some of the iron dissolved in the 
sap aids in combining atmospheric nitrogen with 
hydrogen in the water vapor formed by the evapo¬ 
ration of sap, thus forming ammonia. 

It was conclusively proven many years ago by 

38 


THE FALSE NITROGEN THEORY 

Eilard A. Mitscherlich, one of the ablest European 
chemists, that the formation of iron rust from 
metallic iron in the dew precipitated at night is 
accompanied by the production of ammonia. Ac¬ 
cording to Mitscherlich, this takes place as follows: 
two atoms of nitrogen, three molecules of water 
vapor and two atoms of metallic iron react upon 
each other to form two molecules of ammonia and 
a molecule of iron oxide, or rust. The chemist 
writes this reaction thus: 

2N+3HH0+2Fe=2(NH 3 )+Fe 2 0 3 . 

We know, moreover, that wherever marly lime¬ 
stone is present in soil or is applied to it, a fine 
growth of vegetation ensues without the application 
of any nitrogen fertilizer. The explanation thereof 
resides, according to Hensel, in the chemical fact 
that moist carbonate of lime has a strong affinity 
for nitrogen. When moist carbonate of lime is 
dried it contains some nitrate of lime, showing that 
nitrogen from the air is united with hydrogen and 
oxygen by lime to form nitric acid, for nitrate of 
lime is a compound formed by the union of nitric 
acid and lime. 

The sap of all plants contains more or less iron 

39 


BREAD AND ROSES FROM STONES 

and lime dissolved in it, hence there are two ways 
in which, when water is evaporated from the 
leaves, atmospheric nitrogen might be taken up by 
the leaves to form chlorophyll, leaf green. 

We have an analysis by A. B. Ross of a long 
series of experiments in Pennsylvania, all of which 
goes to show that the use of nitrogen fertilizers is 
a waste of good money, because unnecessary. 

A recent bulletin issued by the Ohio State Exper¬ 
iment Station at Wooster, cited by Dr. W. J. 
Spillman in the Farm Journal, July, 1921, corrob¬ 
orates Ross’s conclusion. In the Ohio experiment 
the plot of land given no nitrogen yielded better 
returns than the plot which received the full 
amount of nitrogen advised by orthodox theorists, 
and Dr. Spillman adds that the net increase is 
actually greater when the nitrogen is omitted. 

The foregoing facts demonstrate: 1—that all 
sorts of plants, not merely the legumes, are able 
to obtain some of the nitrogen they need from the 
air, and will obtain the rest from the earth if there 
is sufficient iron and carbonate of lime in the soil; 
2—that expensive nitrogen fertilizer is unnecessary. 

Now we assert that the free use of nitrogen 
40 


THE FALSE NITROGEN THEORY 

fertilizer is worse than useless; it is harmful to 
plants and animals. This is a startling statement, 
hut it is absolutely true. With respect to the inju¬ 
rious influence of nitrogen we shall quote authori¬ 
ties the orthodox theorists will not question, because 
they are in the front ranks of their own camp. 

In regard to the effect of nitrogen on cereals, 
Hoare Collins cites Dr. Russell, head of Rotham- 
sted, to the effect that an excess of it “leads to a 
bright green color, to a copious growth of soft sappy 
tissue, liable to insect and fungoid pests (apparently 
because of the thinning of the walls and some 
change in the composition of the sap), and to 
retarded ripening.” 

More than a quarter of a century ago, because 
of the liberal use of nitrogen on cereals in Germany, 
the German millers had to mix foreign grain— 
obtained from Hungary, Roumania, Russia or 
Argentina—with their home grown cereals in order 
to be able to grind them into flour, because the 
German cereals were so rich in nitrogen that, as 
Hensel puts it, “they gummed the upper and nether 
millstones.” 

The excessive use of nitrogen is injurious to all 

41 


BREAD AND ROSES FROM STONES 


cereals, although the appearance and form of the 
grain may not reveal the fact, because too much 
straw is produced, the grain is of poor quality, and 
the plants are easily beaten down and “lodged” by 
hard wind or rains. A neighbor denies this con¬ 
tention and points with pride to his field of grain 
which has been richly fertilized with manure. 
Shortly thereafter a night of heavy wind and rain 
“lodges” it in tangled masses. 

The crop grown to maturity with the aid of a 
fertilizer rich in nitrogen naturally contains an 
excess of nitrogen, but is deficient in those mineral 
substances which give strength, coherence and dura¬ 
bility to the tissues of plant and animal bodies. Such 
vegetation, of course, is an imperfect and deficient 
fodder for our cattle, and is utterly unfit to serve 
as human food. 

A field of clover given a liberal application of 
nitrogen appears luxuriantly green and heavy. 
Closer examination, however, reveals that the stalks 
and leaves are soft and sappy, and entirely lacking 
in the elements that give strength and durability. 

Dr. Russell declares that there can be no doubt 
that the use of nitrogen leads to a luxuriant growth 
42 


THE FALSE NITROGEN THEORY 

of leaves. The effect on potato plants is very 
remarkable indeed, for they produce more leaves as 
the nitrogen supply is increased, but no more roots, 
no more tubers. And tomato plants, under like 
conditions, produce an abundance of leaves, but 
very little fruit. 

On the other hand Dr. Russell holds that leaf 
crops, such as cabbage, spinach, lettuce, and so on, 
“are wholly improved by increased nitrate supply: 
growers of cabbages have learned that they cannot 
only improve the size of their crops by the judic¬ 
ious application of nitrates, but they can also im¬ 
part the tenderness and bright green color desired 
by purchasers. Unfortunately the softness of the 
tissues prevents the cabbages standing the rough 
handling of the market.” That last statement is 
truly a “scientific” gem. It flatly condemns the 
practice of using nitrogen on our garden truck, and 
offers one of the very best reasons why we should 
avoid the use of nitrates. For soft and flabby 
tissues—whether found in plant or animal tissues— 
are the result of mineral starvation, and such stuff 
is absolutely unfit to serve as food. 

As a matter of fact the liberal use of nitrate of 

43 


BREAD AND ROSES FROM STONES 


soda, and other nitrogen fertilizers, especially when 
accompanied by soluble phosphates, which hasten 
the growth of garden truck and small fruit, is 
undermining our health. There is an alarming in¬ 
crease in the number of persons suffering from bodi¬ 
ly defects, such as poor eyesight, loss of teeth and 
hair, because their daily foodstuffs are deficient in 
certain essential mineral- elements. 

In view of this array of damning evidence, how 
does Boussingault’s theory of nitrogen fertilization 
continue to form one of the foundations of modern 
agricultural science? 

The experiment on which Boussingault based his 
conclusions was defective, but he overlooked that 
defect, and it has been overlooked by all agricult¬ 
ural teachers and writers up to date, so far as I 
can find, with the solitary exception of Julius 
Hensel. 

In order to determine whether plants are able to 
absorb nitrogen from the air, Boussingault grew 
seeds in powdered pumice stone, first making sure 
that there was no mineral plant food mixed in it, 
by heating it glowing hot and leaching it. Then he 
added a definite quantity of certain minerals needed 
44 


THE FALSE NITROGEN THEORY 


for plant growth, and arranged to supply water, 
carbonic acid and nitrogen from the air through an 
ingenious system of tubes, causing the air contain¬ 
ing nitrogen to pass through sulphuric acid so as 
to free it of any ammonia it might contain. This 
experiment was carried on under a glass globe. 

When the plants were grown to maturity chem¬ 
ical analysis revealed the fact that their entire 
nitrogen content was no greater than the amount 
of nitrogen normally found in the seeds from which 
they were grown. It was perfectly clear that 
these plants had not absorbed any nitrogen, and 
from this Boussingault drew the conclusion that 
plants are not able to absorb and build atmospheric 
nitrogen into their tissues, but must draw all the 
nitrogen they need from the soil. 

Ingenious this experiment may have been, but it 
was utterly worthless and Boussingault’s conclu¬ 
sions false, for the simple reason that the growth 
of plants inside the glass globe released so much 
oxygen that outside air containing nitrogen was 
prevented from entering the globe. Thus the 
dogma of nitrogen fertilization rests upon these two 
facts: first, there was no way for the oxygen re- 

45 


BREAD AND ROSES FROM STONES 

leased by the growing plants to escape from Bous- 
singault’s globe, and second, there was no nitrogen 
admitted to the globe. Reductio ad absurdumJ 
It is, of course, utterly ridiculous to compare the 
process of plant growth in free nature with the ab¬ 
normal conditions in Boussingault’s precious globe. 
His plants grew under those abnormal conditions, 
without any supply of nitrogen in their soil or 
their atmosphere, thus showing that certain chem¬ 
ical elements are capable of replacing others. That 
the supply of atmospheric nitrogen was not reach¬ 
ing his plants at all Boussingault did not realize, 
because the abundant supply of potash, soda, and 
lime served instead of part of the missing nitrogen 
in the formation of the plant tissues. This was 
pointed out by Hensel as far back as 1898, but his 
work was ignored or ridiculed by academic scien¬ 
tists We owe him an enduring debt of gratitude, 
however, not alone for making clear to us how 
Bou s ngauit erred, but also for pointing out the 
injury we inflict on ourselves by blindly following 
the nitrogen theory. 


46 


CHAPTER VII 
The Use of Manure 


one will deny that animal manure will aid 
JLl plant growth, nor that its liberal use will lead 
to the production of large crops, but it may be ques¬ 
tioned whether crops thus grown are good food 
stuffs. In order to determine the value of manure 
as a fertilizer, and to learn whether our suspicion of 
it is well grounded, it is necessary to find out exactly 
what manure is. 


What is manure? 

That’s a simple question, not at all difficult to 
answer. It is that part of the fodder which, al¬ 
though more or less split up in the process of diges¬ 
tion, took little or no part in the renewal of the 
animal’s lymph and blood and therefore was voided 
from its body as useless. That part of the fodder 
used for the repair of the body, and for supplying 
warmth and energy to the animal, is finally oxidized 
or burned to gaseous, liquid and solid ashes. The 
gaseous ash passes from the body through the lungs, 

47 


BREAD AND ROSES FROM STONES 


the liquid ash, which contains most of the mineral 
stuffs dissolved in it, leaves the body in the form of 
urine, which also contains a considerable quantity 
of nitrogen in various combinations. The solid 
manure, therefore, contains but a small part of the 
mineral stuffs originally part of the fodder. The 
balance of the minerals, those that served a phys¬ 
iological purpose, are contained in the urine. In 
itself, then, manure would be a very poor fertilizer. 

Hence great care is taken by many farmers to 
retain the urine mixed with the solids, because the 
mixture is held to be very valuable as a fertilizer. 
Great stress is laid on conserving the urine. The 
fact is, however, manure saturated with urine con¬ 
tains an excess of nitrogen in the form of ammonia. 
It will assist in bringing forth large crops as 
ammonia is capable of replacing lime, potash, soda 
and magnesia, at least in part, in the formation of 
plant tissues. We have already cited evidence 
showing that plants containing an excess of nitrogen 
are liable to be infested by various pests and are 
incomplete food stuffs. Such plants are incapable 
of properly nourishing human beings or animals, 
for they lack certain vitally necessary mineral stuffs. 

48 


THE USE OF MANURE 


That which gives cohesion and durability to the 
tissues of an animal body is not ammonia, but 
those physiological minerals which protect its am¬ 
monia-albumen against premature cleavage and 
decay. 

While it is not to be denied that animal manure 
contains a certain amount of available plant food, 
nor that it will add humus and improve the physical 
condition of soil, the balance between its nitrogen 
content and its mineral plant foods should be 
restored before it is used as a fertilizer, if we desire 
to produce wholesome plants capable of fully nour¬ 
ishing ourselves or our domestic animals. Where 
there is a goodly supply of manure at hand on a 
farm, or it can be had in quantity at a low price, we 
should make the necessary correction before applying 
it to the land. 

This is best done, as Hensel suggests, by strew¬ 
ing stone dust fertilizer, or hard wood ashes, over 
the manure as produced in the stables. Where 
that is impossible, stone dust or wood ashes should 
be thoroughly mixed wuth the manure before it is 
spread. It will be wise to add stone dust or wood 
ashes to manure being produced on the farm at the 

49 


BREAD AND ROSES FROM STONES 
rate of two or three pounds per animal daily. 

In the event that neither wood ashes nor stone 
dust are obtainable in sufficient quantity, gypsum 
will serve to partially correct the disparity between 
the nitrogen and m'neral plant foods in the manure. 
It will partly offset the excess of nitrogen by add¬ 
ing lime and sulphur. 

The preceding chapter contains sufficient evidence 
to prove that an excess of nitrogen is injurious to 
plants. Here the contention is that such food stuffs 
are poor foods. In this connection we will again 
quote Hoare Collins, who says: “Roots, cabbages, 
or other fodder crops grown on an excessive amount 
of nitrogen, make inferior foods.” They are not 
only inferior, but are injurious to man or beast. In 
the light of these facts, no argument is needed in 
support of the opinion that manure is unfit for use 
as a fertilizer until the disparity between its nitro¬ 
gen and its mineral plant foods has been corrected. 

We are what we eat! 

We are reminded by Hensel that since manure 
has come into general use as a fertilizer in Europe 
contagion and pestilence have increased among do¬ 
mestic animals, likewise certain diseases among 

50 


THE USE OF MANURE 


human beings, particularly diphtheria and tubercu¬ 
losis. Now comes a famous French physician, Dr. 
A. Robin, of Paris, with the theory of “demineral¬ 
isation de 1’organisme,” holding that a lack of 
certain mineral elements weakens the body’s power 
of resistance to disease, thus supporting Hensel’s 
contention that improperly fertilized soil produces 
food stuffs which do not fully nourish the body. 

This point has been well made by Luther 
Burbank, who says: “what happens when we over¬ 
feed a plant, especially an unbalanced ration? Its 
root system, its leaf system, its trunk, its whole 
body, is impaired. It becomes engorged. Following 
this, comes devitalization. It is open to attacks of 
disease. It will be easily assailed by fungous dis¬ 
eases and insect pests. It rapidly and abnormally 
grows onward to its death.” 


51 


CHAPTER VIII 
Natural Rock Fertilizer 


’ K E know that lands in valleys and on islands 
\^/ subject to periodical inundation retain their 
fertility, because they receiye a regular supply of silt 
carried from the hills or mountains by creeks and 
rivers. This silt is composed very largely of crum¬ 
bled rocks. The process whereby Nature prepares a 
continuous supply of mineraal plant foods for these 
regions has been explained in the second chapter. 
The question is, can we adapt this process of Nature 
to produce wholesome fertilizer in such quantities 
as we may need ? 


“We can anticipate this carbonic acid weathering 
process,” Hensel says, “by mixing finely ground 
stones with marl, which contains minutely divided 
carbonate of lime and clay. When this was pro¬ 
posed by me several agricultural teachers, on 
account of their antagonistic point of view, were 
led to make experiments to prove that the fertility 
of soil is not increased by the use of finely ground 

52 


NATURAL ROCK FERTILIZER 


feldspar. However feldspar is by no means the 
entire primitive rock, but only an individual part 
thereof. The mica containing magnesia, and the 
sulphide of iron usually found in primitive rock, 
and the phosphoric acid combined with clay all 
have an essential significance for normal plant 
growth. The negative results from the use of 
feldspar alone therefore proves nothing.” 

Hensel put his theory to the most rigid tests in 
practical use, but the leaders in the domain of 
agricultural science, however, still continued to deny 
that fertilizer can be made out of finely ground 
rocks. They made such foul accusations against 
him that Hensel was forced to bring legal action 
against some of them. “In Worms,” he tells us, 
“the judge asked Prof. Wagner, of Darmstadt, 
who had called stone dust fertilization a gross 
swindle: ‘Have you, then, experimented with it?’ 
Whereupon Herr Wagner, an early colleague of 
mine, replied: ‘No, with such stuff I do not exper¬ 
iment; nothing can grow thereon.’ ” 

It would not be overstating the case, I believe, 
to say that the majority of teachers and writers on 
agricultural science would affirm Prof. Wagner’s 
53 


BREAD AND ROSES FROM STONES 


opinion to be true. We have the testimony, how¬ 
ever, of an American authority of high rank, Dr. 
William Crocker, who says: “Aside from farm 
manure, a century ago marls and gypsum were the 
main fertilizers. No doubt the weakest point in 
this old system was deficiency of phosphorus. Now 
rock phosphates supply this deficiency and a bal¬ 
anced ration of natural rock fertilizers is possible— 
limestone, gypsum and rock phosphate.” 

Julius Hensel’s concept of a balanced fertilizer 
is, of course, broader than that of Dr. Crocker. The 
point which we wish to emphasize is, Dr. Crocker 
upholds Hensel’s contention that finely ground stone 
dust is capable of serving as plant food. We shall 
present Hensel’s own arguments, substantially in 
his own words: 

Assuming that the different varieties of granite 
contain, aside from their clay and silica, an average 
of between 6 and 7 per cent of potash and soda, 
between 2 and 4 per cent of lime and magnesia, 
and from 1 to 2 per cent of manganese and iron, 
and smaller amounts of sulphur and phosphorus, we 
may estimate their plant food as at least 10 per 
cent of their weight, without reckoning their silica 

54 


NATURAL ROCK FERTILIZER 

which, generally speaking, forms about one seventh 
the weight of plant ashes. If we estimate the ashes 
of plants, on the average, as about 3 per cent of 
their weight, we can only expect to obtain three 
hundred weights of field produce from each hun¬ 
dred weight of granite dust. The returns, however, 
will be more favorable if limestone and gypsum 
are mixed with the granite dust, because carbonate 
of lime aids in the production of sugar and cellu¬ 
lose, and the gypsum cooperates to a certain extent 
in the formation of plant albumen. 

The application of such a natural rock fertilizer 
not only adds plant food to the soil, but also aids 
in making available some of the plant foods locked 
up in unavailable forms in the soil. Under the 
influence of soda from the granite, and of the sul¬ 
phur from the gypsum, the soil itself will yield 
considerable food to plants, as the latent foods 
(especially phosphate of lime and silicate of potash) 
will be brought into fruitful activity. Hence the 
natural rock fertilizer is not the sole source of the 
vigorous new plant growth, and the yield resulting 
from its application to the soil will be larger than 
theoretical considerations lead us to estimate. 

55 


BREAD AND ROSES FROM STONES 


In the truest sense of the word, moreover, we 
are justified in calling a natural rock fertilizer a 
complete fertilizer, for it contains silica, potash, 
soda, clay, lime, magnesia, iron and sulphur, togeth¬ 
er with traces of other substances useful as plant 
foods—fluorine, iodine, and so forth. These plant 
foods will not become available to plants so rapidly 
as the same elements in manufactured fertilizer, it 
must be admitted. That is an advantage, however, 
for none of the food material will be washed down 
into the subsoil out of reach of the plant roots, 
none of it will be carried away by rain, as happens 
in the case of readily soluble fertilizers. Can the 
food elements in a natural rock fertilizer become 
available rapidly enough to satisfy the needs of 
growing plants? 

There is no possibility of doubt on this point, 
provided that the rocks are ground fine enough and 
there is an abundant supply of moisture in the soil. 
The silicic acid in granite, for example, is soluble 
in from 500 to 1000 parts of water, the degree of 
its solubility depending on the temperature of soil 
and water. The more warmth the soil absorbs, 
therefore, the greater will be the dissolving force of 
56 


NATURAL ROCK FERTILIZER 


the soil water. Thus the store of silica plants require 
to give them stability is slowly accumulated in the 
rind of their trunks and leaves, as it is brought to 
them in the sap which rises from their roots, which 
is steadily evaporated from their exposed surfaces, 
but chiefly from the leaves. The slow release of 
silicic acid in the soil, moreover, prevents the sap 
from becoming overloaded with potash and soda, 
and the slow growing plants are thereby protected 
against burns from caustic alkalies. The release 
of the silicic acid also aids in the dissolution of the 
limestone, the latter by itself being almost wholly 
insoluble in water. 

With respect to the solubility of gypsum, it is 
to be noted that it requires from 500 to 800 parts 
of water to dissolve it. The degree of its solubility 
depends, of course, on the temperature of the soil 
and the water in it. 

We need have no fear that any considerable 
amount of natural rock fertilizer will be wasted 
through leaching, nor that plants grown with its 
aid will be injured by an excess of potash, soda 
and lime, because these elements will not become 
soluble much more rapidly than plants can make 

57 


BREAD AND ROSES FROM STONES 

use of them in the formation of sugar, cellulose, 
albumen and fat. 

Nitrate of soda and ammonia, as well as the 
various nitrate and ammonia compounds, are sol¬ 
uble in very small amounts of water. These various 
nitrogen compounds, as we have seen, are capable 
of hastening plant growth to such an extent that, 
under certain conditions, it is impossible for the 
growing plants to take up a sufficient amount of 
mineral plant foods to build healthy tissues. 

The quantity of water required for the produc¬ 
tion of a pound of dry vegetable matter varies, of 
course, with the nature of the crop, but for the 
sake of an illustration we may assume the average 
to be 300 pounds of water for each pound of dry 
vegetable matter. Assuming that the mineral con¬ 
tent of the average plant is 5 per cent of its total 
weight, it would be necessary for the plant to take 
up during the entire growing season only 360 
grains of mineral matter for each pound of dry 
vegetable stuff it elaborated. Thus, assuming 300 
pounds of water were used in the formation of one 
pound of vegetable matter, our natural rock ferti¬ 
lizer would only have to be soluble in water at the 

58 


NATURAL ROCK FERTILIZER 


rate of 1.5 grains to each pound of water in order 
to satisfy the needs of our growing plants. 

It may be denied by theoreticians that natural 
rock dust is soluble enough to become available as 
plant food, but we have the results of practical ex¬ 
perience to amply confirm our contention. 4 The 
wise thing, friend reader, regardless of*what your 
opinion may be, is to try the thing out for yourself. 
Bow to the authority of no man, test all things for 
yourself, and retain for use only those things that 
seem to you good. 

The first mixture of natural stone dust for fer¬ 
tilizer, one that is highly recommended by Hensel, 
is composed of granite mixed with gypsum and 
limestone. This may consist of granite 10 parts, 
gypsum 2 parts and limestone 3 parts. A ton of 
natural rock fertilizer on this basis would contain 
1333 pounds of granite, 267 pounds of gypsum and 
400 pounds of limestone. 

We are aware that rock phosphates coarse as 
gravel are almost useless as a fertilizer, but when 
reduced to a fine powder they are very valuable. In 
order to make rock phosphates most efficient, we 
need to grind them fine enough so they will freely 

59 


BREAD AND ROSES FROM STONES 

pass through a screen containing 100 meshes to the 
linear inch. The same holds of gypsum and lime¬ 
stone; the finer they are the more available as 
plant foods. 

In case a supply of finely ground granite, or 
other primitive rock, is not obtainable, which is per¬ 
haps likely *to be the case for some time to come, 
you can make use of the materials recommended by 
Dr. Crocker: limestone, gypsum and rock phosphate. 
A good mixture of these would be 6 parts of lime¬ 
stone, 3 of gypsum and 4 of rock phosphate. 

The proportions in which either of these natural 
rock fertilizers are put together may be varied 
more or less to suit your own purpose. The 
formulae given above are intended to serve simply 
as bases from which you can start trials of the new 
type of fertilizer. 

The quantity of fertilizer required by a given plot 
of ground, to restore its original fertility, depends 
upon several factors, among which may be men¬ 
tioned the nature of the soil itself, the amount of 
water it receives, the length of time it has been 
cropped, and the nature of the crops we desire to 
obtain from it. In some instances a half ton, or 
60 


NATURAL ROCK FERTILIZER 


even less, per acre will be enough; in other cases, 
especially where the soil is badly run down and 
infested with worms because of excessive use of 
manure on it, three tons to the acre may not be 
too liberal an application. This is a point, however, 
each cultivator must determine for himself. 

Numerous German farmers, however, who used 
Hensel’s natural rock fertilizer, reported very sat¬ 
isfactory returns from cereal crops with as little as 
one-fourth of a ton to the acre. The effects of the 
liberal use of this fertilizer continue over a period 
of years until it is all used, as some of it becomes 
available all the time, and none of it is leached from 
the soil. 


61 


CHAPTER IX 
Vegetable Gardening 

O UR approach to vegetable gardening and our 
aim in pursuing the art depend, of course, very 
largely on whether we are interested in it as a hobby 
or as profession. As amateurs our chief desire will 
be to obtain luscious health promoting vegetables 
and small fruits. But as professional gardeners our 
aim must be two-fold, namely, to obtain large crops 
at the least cost and to grow them quickly. 

Economic pressure forces the market gardener 
to aim for large crops of swiftly grown truck; the 
high cost of land near good markets, and the high 
taxes on such land, or the heavy rental that must 
be paid for such land, and lastly intense competition 
in the market. He finds that liberal dressings of 
manure, plus nitrate of soda, not only aids him in 
getting large crops, but hastens their growth. 
Appearance, salability is his primary consideration; 
he pays little, if any, attention to the food value of 
his crops. To him this appears to be the natural 
62 


VEGETABLE GARDENING 


way to grow vegetables and small fruits; he knows 
no other way. 

That is why city people are more or less familiar 
with vegetables of poor quality; with potatoes that 
turn dark when cooked, or turn into a jelly-like 
mess when boiled; with cabbage having a very bad 
odor, and with lettuce that quickly decays. In the 
markets of large cities, moreover, green vegetables 
are constantly sprinkled to keep them looking fresh, 
and thus are robbed of some of their already far 
too small store of mineral stuffs. 

Those vegetables and berries and other small 
fruit which are forced and hastily grown become 
engorged, as Luther Burbank points out, and lack 
the very mineral salts we need to keep our blood 
pure, our nerves vigorous and our muscles firm but 
elastic. It is easy to correct this deficiency, how¬ 
ever, by proper fertilization of our garden soil, for, 
as Prof. Kellner says, “as a rule a rich soil, or the 
application of plenty of mineral fertilizers, raises 
the ash content of the plants.” 

Anyone who possesses a plot of ground large 
enough for a garden, though it be only a portion 
of a city lot, should have the soil deeply spaded or 
63 


BREAD AND ROSES FROM STONES 


well plowed, and give it an abundant supply of 
of mineral fertilizer so as to fit it to bring forth 
wholesome vegetables and fruits. Now from such 
a garden may be had not only a regular supply of 
luscious vegetables and small fruits, but also the 
joy which comes only to him who aids in making 
the earth fuitful. 

The careful preparation of seed beds is essential, 
so that the soil water, warmth and air can circulate 
freely, for the chemical processes of plant growth 
are just as dependent on these factors as upon a 
regular supply of mineral and atmospheric plant 
foods. If the plot is large enough to warrant the 
expense, it should be well plowed and harrowed, 
and the seed beds carefully raked to crumble the 
soil particles as fine as possible. 

Where the soil is acid or inclined to cake into 
clods, a good dressing of limestone should be ap¬ 
plied. Ground limestone is to be preferred to 
ground lime, for the limestone will not injure any 
growing plant. It may be applied at the rate of 
100 pounds per thousand square feet. This in ad¬ 
dition to the natural rock fertilizer, which should 
be applied at the rate of 100 to 200 pounds for 
64 


VEGETABLE GARDENING 

the same space. 

For use on light sandy soil, it will be well to 
mix the natural rock fertilizer with a compost 
made of street sweepings, loose soil, grass cuttings 
and decayed vegetable matter such as leaves or a 
little well rotted manure. The compost may be 
prepared thus: take a layer about four inches thick 
of sweepings or loose soil, add a couple of inches 
of decayed vegetable matter or well rotted manure, 
then cover this with about an inch of natural rock 
fertilizer, and repeat until you have a pile large 
enough to supply a good dressing for your garden 
soil. This compost will be most serviceable if pre¬ 
pared in advance, preferably in the Fall. It should 
be harrowed or well raked into the soil before 
seeds are planted. 

Certain vegetables are great consumers of sulphur, 
among which we find potatoes, cabbages, onions, 
radishes and Brussel sprouts, to name but a few, 
and for these it may be well to lightly dust the 
surface soil with sulphur, and then carefully work 
it into the ground. The sulphur aids in making 
other plant foods available, besides directly satisfy¬ 
ing the hunger of these plants. 

65 


BREAD AND ROSES FROM STONES 

A word with respect to the nutritive needs of 
certain other popular vegetables, to-wit: tomatoes 
and corn. They are great users of potash, and will 
readily respond to the application of a little wood 
ashes, preferably hard wood ashes. A hand full 
of ashes should be carefully worked into the soil 
around each tomato plant, after it is well rooted 
in the ground. A couple of hand fulls around 
each hill of corn will repay your labor by bringing 
forth more corn, of better flavor too. 

Some of the German gardeners sprinkle a little 
natural rock fertilizer into the drills before sowing 
their seed, and they report excellent results from 
the practice. 


66 


CHAPTER X 
Raising Fruit 

HE formation of fruit, and its ripening, too, 
depends upon the production of sugar in the 
sap. Indeed the growth of roots, of stalk and branch¬ 
es and leaves is only possible when the plant has at 
its disposal an abundant supply of sugar. 

The greater part of fruit bearing plants, shrubs 
and trees, and the greatest part of the fruit itself, 
consists of water and atmospheric gases, for sugar 
is composed of three gases. Mineral stuffs comprise 
but a very small fraction of fruit, or any other liv¬ 
ing thing. This is equally true of a strawberry 
vine, a currant bush, a cherry tree, or the body of 
an animal or of a human being. But the physiolog¬ 
ical minerals play a very important part in the 
upbuilding of plant forms. 

The first step in plant growth is the formation 
of sugar, but it is impossible for any plant to 
produce sugar unless there is an ample supply of 
alkaline mineral stuffs in the soil. That means 
67 


BREAD AND ROSES FROM STONES 


lime and potash, for example, which must combine 
with carbonic acid in the earth to form moist 
alkaline carbonates. 

The fact is, the mineral stuffs normally found 
in the tissues and fluids of plants are the builders 
of their tissues, for they not only aid in making 
sugar, but also combine with the sugar after it has 
lost some of its water to form cellulose, which 
comprises the skeleton of the plant, and they aid 
in the production of albumen and fat and chloro¬ 
phyll. It follows, then, that the physiological 
minerals are essential to the production of healthy 
fruit. 

There is a very small quantity of some essential 
minerals in the fruit of certain trees. Very little 
iron in cherries, for example, but fairly large 
quantities of lime, potash and other minerals. 
However, each of the minerals serves a definite 
purpose, and the tree cannot bear fine, wholesome 
fruit if denied enough of any one mineral. 

The writer has observed a striking illustration 
of the relation between iron and the vigor of a fruit 
tree. We have quoted Eilard A. Mitscherlich’s 
proof as to how metallic iron binds atmospheric 
68 


RAISING FRUIT 


nitrogen and aids in the formation of ammonia 
therefrom. Our textbooks, however, tell us that 
the formation of leaf green is impossible without 
iron in the sap of a plant, but they declare the re¬ 
lation between iron and the formation of leaf green 
scientifically named chlorophyll, is not understood. 
Chlorophyll is a vegetable albumen, therefore an 
organic compound of nitrogen. Wherefor when 
sap contains iron it must be capable of absorbing 
atmospheric nitrogen and building it into plant 
albumen. 

Now to our striking illustration: on the farm of 
Frank H. Conant, a short distance south of Auburn, 
Washington, there are two cherry trees that stand 
within twenty feet of each other. These trees are 
of the same age, were planted at the same time, and 
both were about the same size, and apparently 
equally vigorous when set out. But a keg full of 
rusty nails was distributed around the roots of one 
tree w T hen it was set out. , The trunk of this tree 
was about six inches in diameter in 1921, and it 
bore a heavy crop of excellent fruit; the other tree 
was scarcely more than three inches in diameter 
and bore no fruit to speak of. 

69 


BREAD AND ROSES FROM STONES 


There is certainly an intimate relation between 
the production of fine fruit and all the physiological 
minerals in the soil. For the finest fruit raising 
sections of the West Coast of the United States 
and Canada either lie at the base of rocky mount¬ 
ains, the Hood River Valley and the Rogue River 
Valley in Oregon being cases in point, or their 
soils are of volcanic ash origin, of which the We¬ 
natchee Valiev and the Yakima district in Wash¬ 
ington are excellent illustrations. 

Speaking of European fruit, Hensel says: “The 
Bohemian mountains furnish it in abundance, and 
indeed free from worms. This latter fact, that 
stone dust fertilizer causes worms to cease, was 
lately confirmed by Dr. Herman Fischer, M.D., of 
Westend, near Charlottenburg, who introduced 
stone dust fertilizer two years ago into his garden 
situated on a sandy soil.” 

That temperate zone fruits naturally thrive on 
rocky soil without the application of stable manure 
or nitrate of soda, but deteriorate in quality and 
become infested with bugs and worms when ferti¬ 
lized with them, or by plowing leguminous crops 
into the soil, is sufficient evidence that they do not 
70 


RAISING FRUIT 


require any more nitrogen than they are able to 
obtain for themselves from air and soil, provided 
that the land contains enough metallic iron and 
carbonate of lime. 

One of the prettiest places we have ever seen, a 
small fruit ranch just outside of Seattle, is another 
case in point. It had been worked intensively for 
about 9 years when we visited it in 1921, and 
thus far had well repaid its owner for his labor. 
Some of the trees were beginning to suffer from 
curly leaf. Some of the fruit on the trees was 
gnarly and warty. One or two questions sufficed 
to bring forth the explanation for this state of 
affairs. 

For the preceding six or seven years oats and 
vetch had been sown between the trees, and this 
green manure was plowed into the soil twice a 
year; in the Spring and again after seed had ripened 
in the Fall. This continuous growing and plowing 
under of vetch and oats had fixed so much nitrogen 
in the soil that it was literally rotten with it. 

The final result of an excess of nitrogen, as it 
unduly hastens the growth of plants and the forma¬ 
tion of seed and fruit, is to give rise to soft and 
71 


BREAD AND ROSES FROM STONES 

sappy tissues deficient in essential minerals, which 
means fruit of poor quality. It also prepares the 
soil for the breeding of various kinds of pests, puts 
trees in such condition as to make them good hosts 
for pests, and gives rise to fungoid diseases. No 
wonder the trees on that beautiful ranch were 
beginning to run down, beginning to bear gnarly 
fruit. 

An able German horticultural teacher, K. Uter- 
mohlen by name, tells us we should not pay any 
attention to “the authorities in horticulture, as they 
are in error with regard to the nutrition of plants, 
especially in their silly theories about nitrogen. 
Who brings to the strong oaks of a hundred years 
growing on rocky soil, or to the other lovely 
children of Mother Earth out in free nature, liquid 
or solid manure or sewage ? They grow and flourish 
and revel in their healthy growth, just because 
they are spared all these. So it will be with our 
fruit trees when we nourish them in a natural 
manner.” 

Insofar as the nutrition of fruit trees and shrubs 
and vines is concerned, we would advise: 

1 —For trees and shrubs, see that the soil con- 

72 


RAISING FRUIT 


tains an abundance of mineral plant foods, by 
applying a good dressing of natural rock fertilizer 
in a circle about four or five inches from the trunk 
of each tree. Use 25 to 50 pounds, or a little more 
if desired, for each tree. In addition work into 
the soil around each tree a few pounds of rusty 
scrap iron, or iron dust and filings if obtainable. 

2—For shrubs and vines apply a few pounds 
of natural rock fertilizer, spading it in where the 
number of shrubs and vines is small. Then sprinkle 
iron sulphate solution on the soil a few inches from 
plants. This solution is made by dissolving an 
ounce of iron sulphate in four gallons of water. 
This will aid in the production of firm flesh in 
all kinds of vine and bush fruits. 

We cannot control the length of the growing 
season, nor the amount of sunshine our trees and 
plants receive, but we can control the amount of 
mineral plant food and water they receive, within 
certain limits of course. After adding iron to the 
soil and fertilizing it with natural rock fertilizer, 
it will be amazing what an improvement in yield 
and quality of fruit will follow. Thus we shall 
work hand in hand with Nature, and the fruits we 

73 


BREAD AND ROSES FROM STONES 

gather for our labor will more than repay us for 
the time and thought given to them. Our berries 
from vine and bush, our apples and cherries, our 
pears and plums, our peaches and other fruits will 
have firmer flesh, richer color, and better flavor, 
and their aroma will be a delight. 


74 


CHAPTER XI 
The Culture of Flowers 


OW we know how to treat soil so as to cause 
" * i t to yield the best results in return for our 

labors, we can have flower gardens that will be at 
once things of beauty and of utility. Ours is the 
privilege of enjoying the blending of rich and ex¬ 
quisite colors, and of revelling in an array of delic¬ 
ious aromas, while adding some tasty morsels of 
food to our daily menus. 

The blossoms, leaves and roots of certain flow¬ 
ering plants make excellent additions to salads, 
many of them being very valuable as tonics and 
blood purifiers. The leaves, tender stems and seed 
pods of nasturtiums, for instance, form almost 
priceless items of food, because of the organic com¬ 
pounds of iodine they contain. Iodine in these 
forms, which are also found in water cress, curled 
garden cress and upland cress, and in seaweeds, 
such as Irish moss and Agar Agar, is invaluable as 
a preventive of goitre, and also in treating the 

75 


BREAD AND ROSES FROM STONES 


disease. 

Among the flowers edible in salads, we may 
mention: hollyhocks, curled mallow, dahlias, rose 
of Sharon, chrysanthemums, rose of China, gilly¬ 
flowers , African marigolds, lavateras, forget-me- 
nots, s weet peas, sweet alyssum, roselles, double 
zinnias, pansies, hyacinth beans, and Chinese 
wistaria beans. A good description of these may 
be had from seed house catalogs. These are all 
more or less pungent, and piquant in flavor. They 
contain different etheric or essential oils, which 
stimulate appetite, aid digestion and act beneficially 
on the nerves. 

In some cases the roots may be sliced and added 
to salads, or eaten like radishes. This is true, for 
instance, of the tuberous dahlia roots, and of the 
variety of nasturtium known as tropaeolum tuber¬ 
osum. 

While the art of floriculture has made gigantic 
strides forward during the last quarter century, 
very little attention has been given to the cultivation 
of flowering plants as a supplement to our com¬ 
moner food stuffs. 

In spite of improvements in their shape and 

76 


THE CULTURE OF FLOWERS 

color, and the development of many new varieties, 
our plants are not so vigorous as old time plants, 
and our gardens are not so richly laden with 
de-'ghtful perfumes as the gardens of a generation 
ago were. They are more often infested by swarms 
of bugs; caterpillars, worms and moths. Is there 
any relation between the lack of perfume in our 
plants and the presence of the pests just named? 
It is an undeniable fact that plants, like human 
beings and animals, are what they eat. For nutri¬ 
tion forms the bedrock of all the processes we 
know as life. 

If we disturb the balance which Nature ordains 
between the gaseous and mineral stuffs in the 
growth of plant bodies, no matter how we do it, 
the plants will not only differ in their chemical 
composition, in their internal make-up, as compared 
with normally nourished plants of their kind, but 
are likely to display some evidence of the alteration 
in their nature to the close observer. The deficiency 
of perfume is one such evidence of abnormality. 

A concrete illustration will serve our purpose 
better than a lengthy discussion; therefore, let us 
consider the rose, queen of flowers. The original 

77 


BREAD AND ROSES FROM STONES 


home of the rose, I believe, is on the Balkan penin¬ 
sula. The roses of Bulgaria grown at the foot of 
the Haemus mountains yield the world famed Attar 
of Roses. Most of us, however, are familiar with 
numerous varieties of highly bred and carefully 
cultivated roses that have very little perfume. 
Wherein resides the difference between the Balkan 
roses and ours? 

In the first place the soil of the Balkan peninsula 
contains an abundance of those mineral stuffs re¬ 
quired for the growth of healthy rose bushes and 
for the production of aromatic oils and perfume. 
Our gardens, on the other hand, are usually built 
up with liberal applications of stable manure, of 
sheep guano, with the addition of nitrate of soda. 
There is far more nitrogen in our garden soil than 
is needed for the normal growth of roses, but not 
enough sulphur, lime, etc. Besides, the growers 
of roses in the Balkans do not make use of manure 
in the way we do. 

Hoare Collins, who fully corroborates Hensel on 
this point, declares that an excess of nitrogen will 
lead to the production of soft, sappy tissues, and 
a luxuriant growth of leaves. Such flabby tissues 

78 


THE CULTURE OF FLOWERS 


cannot, of course, produce roses laden with perfume. 
This reveals not only why our roses, but many 
other flowers also, are deficient in aroma. It ex¬ 
plains, too, why we so frequently find pests in our 
gardens. 

Where our soil has been given an excess of 
nitrogen, especially in the form of ammonia in 
manure, plus an excess of phosphoric acid, the 
plants grown therein contain an abundance of flabby 
albumen, but are deficient in those very mineral 
substances which maintain the health of plants 
and protect them against assaults from pests. Such 
mineral starved plants are well adapted to serve 
as hosts for pe^ts of all sorts, both animal and veg¬ 
etable. For the growth and support of worms and 
bugs and moths and caterpillars, spineless and 
boneless creatures one and all, their bodies consist¬ 
ing almost entirely of fatty tissue and a little 
albumen, but a trace of mineral stuffs is required. 

Where plants are grown in soil not overloaded 
with nitrogen, but which contains an abundance 
of the physiological minerals, particularly an ample 
supply of lime and sulphur, they are rarely infested 
by insect pests or fungous diseases. For lime and 
79 


BREAD AND ROSES FROM STONES 


sulphur are poison to the lower forms of life, and 
both fungus and moss are rarely present on any 
form of vegetable so long as they contain an 
abundance of sulphates. 

Before planting flower seeds, or bulbs, or plants, 
we should give our soil a good dressing of limestone 
and gypsum, and after the plants are well under 
way should apply a good dressing of natural rock 
fertilizer. 

The careful preparation of seed beds, of course, 
is one of the largest factors in the successful culti¬ 
vation of flowers. Next comes ample watering and 
frequent stirring up of the surface soil. 


80 


CHAPTER XII 

Chemistry of Plant Growth 

"" HE first step in the growth of plants is the 
formation of sugar, first from the starch in 
seed or bulb, then from materials obtained by the 
plantlet from soil and air. The sugar found in most 
plants is known as fruit sugar, chemists call it glu¬ 
cose. They describe it as C 6 H 12 0 6 . That is a kind 
of shorthand description, which means that a mole¬ 
cule of sugar is composed of 6 atoms of carbon, 12 
atoms of hydrogen and 6 atoms of oxygen. Now 
carbon, hydrogen and oxygen are gases, therefore 
sugar is made from three gases. 

It will be well, perhaps, to pause for the benefit 
of those not familiar with chemistry and define the 
terms just used, and to give a list of the elements 
found in plant bodies. 

There are two classes of substances in Nature, 
simple stuffs called elements and compounds: Iron 
and oxygen being typical elements, while water 
and sugar are typical compounds. An atom is the 
smallest conceivable bit of an element, of iron for 


BREAD AND ROSES FROM STONES 


instance. A molecule is the smallest bit of a com¬ 
pound, for example of sugar, that retains all the 
properties of the compound. 

The elements possess the power of attracting one 
another, which chemists call their valence. Some 
elements are positive, others negative. Their val¬ 
ence, call it magnetic attraction for lack of a more 
accurate description, enables positive atoms to 
attract and unite with negative atoms. Thus a 
countless number of compounds are built up, and 
all sorts of plant and animal life made possible. 

We are inclined to the view that, generally 
speaking, the formation of sugar in plants starts 
with the production of oxalic acid. The chemical 
composition of this acid is C 2 H 2 0 4 . This leads us 
to conclude that it is formed by the union of two 
molecules of water with two molecules of carbonic 
acid and the separation of a molecule of hydrogen 
peroxide. The equation may be written thus: 


2 molecules water HHO.. H 4 0 2 

2 mols. carbonic acid COO.C 2 0 4 

gives us C 2 H 4 O a 
— 1 mol. peroxide HHOO H 2 0 2 


leaves C 2 H 2 0 4 , 


82 





CHEMISTRY OF PLANT GROWTH 

which is a molecule of oxalic acid. The union of 
water and carbonic acid takes place, in all proba¬ 
bility, in the root sap containing an alkaline car¬ 
bonate, such as carbonate of lime or carbonate of 
potash, while the separation of the hydrogen 
peroxide occurs under the influence of the sun’s 
rays in the leaves. 

The first step in plant growth, then, clearly de¬ 
pends on the presence of certain mineral stuffs in 
the soil, for the small store of them in the seed is 
quickly exhausted in the formation of roots and 
stalk. Without alkaline Carbonates neither vegetable 
acids, sugar nor starch can be produced. Carbonate 
of lime, a compound of lime and carbonic acid, 
Hensel declares is literally a storehouse of sugar 
forming materials. On the one hand sugar yields 
starch, on the other fat, oil and albumen. Sugar 
may, therefore, be looked upon as partly completed 
fat, oil or albumen. 

Much of the sugar in plant bodies, however, is 
so masked our senses cannot recognize it as such. 
It fails, moreover, to respond to the usual tests for 
sugar. This is explained by the fact that the sugar 
molecules have united with others of their kind 
83 


BREAD AND ROSES FROM STONES 

(polymerized is the chemical name for the process) 
and at the same time have united with certain 
mineral stuffs, thus forming fibre or a glucoside. 

Now, a comparison of starch, fibre and a gluco¬ 
side with sugar will clearly show that these 
substances are simply sugar which has been polym¬ 
erized, combined with certain mineral stuffs, and 
stripped of some of the water originally united 
with it. 

The composition of fruit sugar is C 6 H 12 0 6 . 
That of starch is (C 6 Hi 2 0 6 )n, and the same for¬ 
mula describes fibre or cellulose when stripped of its 
mineral matter. The letter “n” in both formulas 
signifies that the molecule is composed of some 
multiple of the figures enclosed in brackets. It 
is clear, therefore, that starch differs from sugar 
in having less water in its make-up. This may be 
easily proven, if you desire to experiment a bit. 
Heat some starch paste with a little weak sul¬ 
phuric acid and the missing water will be chemi¬ 
cally restored, and the starch will again become 
sugar. 

The simplest form of plant albumen, a protein, 
is Asparagine. This is found in the juice of 
84 


CHEMISTRY OF PLANT GROWTH 


Asparagus plants, and consists of C 4 H 10 O 4 N 2 . In 
other words a molecule of Asparagine is composed 
of 4 atoms of carbon, 10 atoms of hydrogen, 4 
atoms of oxygen and 2 atoms of nitrogen. As the 
formula shows, this could be produced by the un¬ 
ion of 2 molecules of carbonic acid COO, two 
molecules of hydrocarbon CHH and two molecules 
of ammonia NHHH. Hensel argues, however, 
that it is formed by the union of a molecule of mal¬ 
ic acid C 4 H 6 0 5 with two molecules of ammonia 
NHHH and the separation of a molecule of water. 
The more complex albumens consist of the same 
substances with the addition of sulphur, and some¬ 
times phosphorus and iron. Hence mineral stuffs 
are essential to the production of albumen or so- 
called protein. 

The manner in which leaf green, one variety of 
plant albumen, is formed in the leaves has been 
considered in the chapter dealing with the nitrogen 
theory of fertilization. We found that its forma¬ 
tion is dependent upon the presence of carbonate 
of lime and metallic iron. 

Certain organic acids are found in plants, usually 
in the form of acid salts of potash, lime and soda. 

85 


BREAD AND ROSES FROM STONES 
Some of these acids, however, are found in a free 
state in fruit juices; citric acid in lemons, for ex¬ 
ample. These salts impart an agreeable flavor to 
fruit juices. 

The formation of citric acid may be explained 
thus: under the electrical influence of the sun’s rays 
3 molecules of oxalic acid combine with 9 molecules 
of water and 6 molecules of hydrogen peroxide are 
thrown off. The equation is written: 

3 mols. oxalic acid C 2 H 2 0 4 equals C 6 H 6 Oi 2 . 

9 mols. water H 2 0 equals H 18 0 9 

Which totalsC«Ho 4 0 2 i 

Substact 6 mols. peroxide H ]2 Oi 2 

and the remainder is c»h 12 o 9 

which is a molecule of citric acid. 

This is the source of sugar in the citrous fruits. 
The formation of fruit sugar from citric acid is 


shown thus: 

1 molecule of citric acid equals C 6 H 12 G 9 

3 molecules of water HHO equals H 6 0 3 

Which totals C 8 H 18 0 12 

Substract 3 mols. peroxide HHOO H 6 0 9 
And the remainder C 6 H 12 0 6 


is a molecule of fruit sugar or glucose. This ex- 
86 



CHEMISTRY OF PLANT GROWTH 

plains how certain fruits which are very sour while 
green become sweeter as they ripen under the in¬ 
fluence of the warmth and light of the sun. 

The relation to sugar of fats and heavy oils, and 
of aromatic oils also, is an entirely different one. 
All of these substances may be formed from sugar, 
but just as soon as a fat, a heavy oil, or an aromatic 
oil is formed it is impossible to transform it into 
sugar again. The original arrangement of the atoms 
has been so completely upset as to make re-forma¬ 
tion of the sugar molecule impossible. 

The formation of seed or fruit is dependent, 
like that of every other phase of plant growth, on 
the presence of certain mineral stuffs in the soil 
and in the sap of the plant. Among these essential 
minerals we find phosphoric add combined with 
lime, potash and ammonia, in the form of phos¬ 
phates, and likewise iron, manganese, sulphur, 
magnesia, etc. The seeds of all varieties of plants 
require, in short, an ample supply of all the min¬ 
eral stuffs normally forming part of that particular 
plant. 

If we supply an abundance of mineral plant 
foods to our soil, the ability of plants to absorb 

87 


BREAD AND ROSES FROM STONES 


and digest those essential minerals will depend upon 
the supply of water in the soil, on the free entrance 
of air into the soil, and the length of the growing 
season, but above all on the amount of sunshine 
the plants receive. 

The growth of plants, in the last analysis, con¬ 
sists of combining a number of gases, namely 
carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen, with certain 
mineral stuffs to form sugar, starch, albumen, fat 
and fibre. This process, from germination of the 
seed in the ground to the ripening of seed, depends 
on the interplay between the physiological minerals 
and gases. Without a sufficiency of lime or potash, 
for example, no sugar or starch can be formed: 
without iron and lime no albumen can be formed: 
without silicia no fibre, no plant skeleton, can be 
formed: and so on to the end of the mineral list, 
each of the physiological minerals plays its own 
definite part in the growth of healthy plants. 

The chemical elements properly classifiable as 
physiological stuffs are: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, 
nitrogen, lime, potash, soda, magnesia, iron, man¬ 
ganese, phosphorus, sulphur, silica, chlorine, fluo¬ 
rine and iodine. With the exception of the first 
88 


CHEMISTRY OF PLANT GROWTH 

lour, all gases, and the last on the list, which is 
found most abundantly in the sea and its products, 
all the physiological mineral stuffs are found in 
rocks. 

What folly, then, to rely upon a chemical ferti¬ 
lizer composed of three, or at the utmost of four, 
of the chemical elements required for plant growth. 

Instead let us grind the stones of majestic 
mountains into dust, since they contain all of the 
mineral stuffs plants require, and thus obtain bread 
and roses from stones! 


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